Book Giveaway & Author Interview: Beyond Broccoli by Susan Schenck

Susan Schenck, LAc, is a raw food coach, lecturer, and author of the 2-time award winning book, The Live Food Factor, The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet, which has gained a reputation as the encyclopedia of the raw food diet—as well as Beyond Broccoli, Creating a Biologically Balanced Diet When a Vegetarian Diet Doesn’t Work. Go to www.livefoodfactor.com and register for the free newsletter to get a copy of the first chapter of The Live Food Factor.

Interview:If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?There is no question about it: I would love to go 100 years into the future when we have perfected the science of anti-aging and people will be almost immortal (at least those who choose to). This could happen much sooner, but I suspect it will take time to make it available for the masses. At first, probably only the rich will be able to afford it.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?I know it sounds crazy, but with all the flavors to choose from, I always take vanilla. And I make raw vanilla ice cream with my ice cream maker.

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?I find that lightly steamed meat for breakfast is the thing that helps my blood sugar remain steady all day. I never get hungry after that. Sometimes I take four omega-3 eggs, boil the whites, and fold in with the raw egg yolks and some vegetables to make an omelet. I get the most expensive eggs, which are more healthful. I have eaten several thousand raw eggs and got mildly sick only once. I simply took some charcoal, which absorbed the toxins, and felt great after ten minutes.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.Even non-vegans/vegetarians would profit from reading my new book, Beyond Broccoli, because it discusses a high raw, Paleolithic diet that will create peak health in everyone.

What inspired you to want to become a writer?I knew I was a writer when I wrote books in second grade and the teacher had me read them in front of the class. Since then I have become a voracious reader. I want to “give back” by writing my own books.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.Having people email me with gratitude has made it all worthwhile!

What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?Keep writing, no matter what, as practice will improve your writing. Save everything you write, because you may use some of it decades later. There has never been an easier time to be a published author, ever since print on demand. Five corporations used to control what we read—but this has all changed with technology!

How did you know you should become an author?When I voraciously read everything on the raw food diet, I accumulated so much knowledge about this powerful secret that I just knew I had to share it with the world!

Favorite Food?I don’t really have a favorite food, but I do love eggs!

Favorite Candy?I generally avoid candy due to health reasons, but I do indulge in raw chocolate and even make them at home, using coconut butter, raw cacao, yacon root syrup and stevia for sweetener, goji berries, and white cacao.

What do you do in your free time? I like to read and write: these have been my fave pastimes for decades!

Give us a glimpse into a typical day in your day starting when you wake up till you lie down again.I get up around 8, though I just love it when I awaken at 6 because then I accomplish more. But I let myself sleep in because I believe we should sleep as long as our body needs to. For decades I was a slave to the rat race and very sleep deprived, and I can tell you that the very best thing about being retired or semi-retired is to not use an alarm clock! I read while having the only coffee of the day (usually). Then I hit the computer and go on a marketing marathon of three to six hours. I get my chores done: shopping, cleaning, phone calls, but not till the main day’s work is done on the computer.Next, I walk for an hour or two. Since I don’t have a car (nor need one here in Ecuador) I just walk downtown, check my mail, etc. I don’t really eat lunch, but just graze when hungry. In the evening I watch a movie with my husband after we eat our dinner of steamed vegetables and salad. But I am no coach potato: I do my nightly exercise routine during the movie: trampoline, yoga, and facial exercises. Then I follow up with my face massager and also massage my scalp. Before retiring, I do about half an hour in my infrared sauna while reading.

What’s your favorite season/weather?I love spring! I lived in San Diego, the land of eternal spring, and now live in Ecuador where you get the four seasons in one day—but mostly spring.

Who or what inspired you to become an author?Getting my first personal computer showed me how easy it was to write! Since then I have written five books.

Favorite music?I absolutely adore New Age harpist Andreas Wollenweider and listen to his music whenever I am at the computer. I also enjoy brain-sync music.

Beyond Broccoli

Beyond Broccoli is written by Susan Schenck, who herself was a raw vegan for six years, followed by a year of raw vegetarianism (including raw dairy and eggs), and ending with her returning to just a bit of raw and lightly cooked meat. Going raw proved to have so many benefits that Schenck wrote a 2-time award-winning book about it, The Live Food Factor. But after a few years, she began to exhibit health issues such as deficiencies in B12, memory problems, muscle tissue loss, bloatedness, irritability and cravings. Her research, spurred on by Dr. Stanley Bass, led her to conclude that it was a lack of vital nutrients found only in animal products that were causing the problems. Dr. Stanley Bass, ND, DC, PhC, PhD, DO, DSc, DD, who has over 50 years of clinical experience with raw vegan and nonvegan diet counseling, wrote a foreword. The book then begins with the author s story of why she resumed eating a bit of animal products and how she manages to stay mostly raw even so. It also includes a chapter on other vegans and vegetarians (some who eat raw, others who eat cooked) who made this decision for health reasons. This book addresses the following issues: vegetarian myths; why human s brains have shrunk 11% in the last 11,000 years ; the importance of animal foods in pregnant and lactating women; man s dietary history of eating meat for 2.6 million years; how the vegan diet affects the brain and emotions; critical nutrients found only in meat, eggs and dairy, as well as some found in meat only; the difficulty of getting enough healthful protein on a vegan diet, especially raw; the dangers of soy; the different metabolic types, which explains why some succeed on a veg diet while others fail; the dangers of overeating animal protein; how to eat meat so that it is not dangerous; the benefits of eating raw or lightly cooked meat and how to do it safely and make it taste good; spiritual, moral and environmental issues with eating meat; the importance of eating clean meat from compassionately raised animals; eating a high raw, Paleo diet which is what we evolved eating; the importance of eating raw; flaws in the China Study; the benefits of a low glycemic diet; important foods if you choose to be a vegan or vegetarian; and more. This book addresses issues such as the fact that not everyone can efficiently convert plant nutrients to critical nutrients needed by the body, such as omega-3s into DHA and EPA needed by the brain; beta-carotene into true vitamin A; essential amino acids into nonessential ones; vitamin D2 into D3, and vitamin K1 into K2. Not everyone has the metabolic type to go veg, either. A resource section with related websites and doctors who approve of a raw nonvegan diet is located in the back of the book.

Giveaway Details1 paperback copy open to US only2 Kindle copies open InternationallyEnds 11/28/11